Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are most likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting of the machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator.
To enhance the entertainment value of gaming machines, many gaming machines plays entertaining game sounds coordinated with images and graphics shown on the machine display. The game sounds are transmitted by one or more audio speakers mounted to the gaming machine. The speakers may be aimed in a frontal direction generally toward a player situated in front of the machine, or in a side ways direction generally perpendicular to the frontal direction.
Gaming machines are typically situated in noisy environments such as casinos, race tracks, and other gaming establishments. The ambient noise produced by such environments may interfere with the entertaining game sounds played by the gaming machines. The interference from the ambient noise may degrade and make it difficult to hear the game sounds. Although a gaming operator may compensate for the ambient noise by increasing the machine's sound volume, the volume if too loud may annoy the player and others nearby and may exacerbate, instead of alleviate, the problem of ambient noise.
Accordingly, a need exists for a gaming machine that effectively enhances its game sounds by minimizing interference from ambient noise produced by the surrounding environment.